Overtime (15 page)

Charlie gestured to his friends. With the door open the storm was deafening, and he had to shout to be heard. “The ambulance is gonna take forever to get to us. There’s too much mud. It’s covered the highway. But there’s a tree close by. We can hold onto that until help comes. We’ll never be able to walk through the mud.” He looked down. In crawling back and forth his pants were now completely drenched. “And we’d better do it quickly,” he added grimly. “Most of the bus is already in the lake, and there’s more water coming in.”

The bus creaked, then bobbed up and down, sending Pudge first into Dalton, and then both of them crashing back into a seat. Charlie fell on Julia and they both went down as well.

Charlie struggled to his feet. He reached down and helped Julia up.

“Are you okay?” he said.

She nodded, but Charlie could see the fall had hurt.

“How about me and Pudge jump down and help people out,” Charlie said.

“Let’s just hurry,” Julia pleaded.

They crawled out. Charlie immediately sank about a foot into the mud. Water drifted over top — and it was freezing cold. He gave his head a shake to focus. No time to worry about that. He leaned into the bus. Zachary was closest to him, holding his knee tightly.

“Zachary, how do you want to do this?” Charlie said.

“By magic carpet, preferably.”

Only Zachary could be so cool at a time like this.

“I’m all out of those,” Charlie said.

“Then how about I go backwards and you pull me out.”

The injuries made things complicated and slow, especially with Nick and Rebecca. Both of them were in excruciating pain, and every movement was agony. Finally, Pudge and Charlie lowered Ms Cummings into the mud.

Charlie rested his hands on his knees for a second, struggling to catch his breath. The rain was still pelting down and it made his eyes sting. To make things worse, the bus had slid towards the lake while they helped people out, and he and Pudge had to pull their feet out of the mud to keep close to the door; it was incredibly tiring. He was beyond relieved when Dalton and Julia joined him.

“Almost done,” Charlie gasped. “That tree looks solid. We’ll be okay once we get there.” But something began to bother him, a nagging feeling, as if he had forgotten something.

“There’s no way Zachary, Nick or Rebecca can make it themselves,” Pudge said to him quietly.

Charlie almost felt like laughing. It was getting to be too much. He couldn’t feel his feet, and even standing up straight was an effort. When he saw his injured friends, however, he felt ashamed of himself. He was still way better off. “Let’s do this,” he growled, and he and Pudge punched fists.

Dalton trudged over to them. “I believe I can help Matt and Alexandra, and Julia should be able to assist Ms Cummings and Scott, since their legs are not hurt. Zachary, Nick and Rebecca will require two people, in my opinion. Perhaps we can get started, and you can carry one of them over. Then all four of us should be able to help the remaining two.”

They all nodded agreement.

“We should take Rebecca first,” Charlie said to Pudge. “She’s the most hurt.” She was also the lightest, and Charlie needed a rest. They picked her up, and she wrapped her arms around their necks. The mud wasn’t as deep, and the tree wasn’t that far, but it was still tough. The four helpers slowly made their way back, each of them fighting desperately for breath.

Dalton and Pudge picked up Nick and began the backbreaking walk to the tree.

Zachary began to laugh. “I don’t think you can carry me, Julia.”

Julia looked up at him with half-closed eyes. “I was kinda thinking the same thing.”

Julia had been a warrior so far, but Zachary was simply too big for her. They would have to wait for Dalton and Pudge to help.

A gurgling sound caught his attention. The bus was sliding again, and the water underneath bubbled up. He hobbled over for one last look. Water was spilling into the bus with the door open, the rain adding to it. He guessed the front was filling up now, and the bus would sink pretty soon. He moved away. Off in the distance, he saw that several fire trucks had arrived, their lights flashing overhead, and he spotted a crew of firefighters struggling towards them. They were going to be on that tree for a while, he figured.

But that wasn’t what bothered him. In the back of his mind,
he knew something was wrong. He counted everyone. They were all there.

And then it hit him.

“The driver!” he yelled.

“We’re so stupid,” Julia said. “How did we … we’ve got to …” She stared into his eyes.

He clutched her shoulder. “You wait here and tell Pudge and Dalton to help Zachary. I’ll check him out.”

“But the bus is …” Julia left it unsaid.

“Be quick, dude,” Zachary said. “Real quick.”

Charlie hesitated for a moment, and then climbed back in. His legs could barely hold him, and after a few metres he found it easier to crawl. His knees were aching, and each step was brutally painful.

He kneeled down next to the driver. Water sloshed around the bus like in a giant bathtub. It went up to his knees. A wave of fear hit him.

They weren’t going to make it.

Charlie shook the driver’s shoulder. He didn’t move. Charlie shook him harder. He slowly turned his head.

“Sir. We really have to go. Everyone else is out,” Charlie said.

“Did you say you all got out?” the driver said weakly.

Charlie tugged on his shoulder again. “Yes. It’s only you and me. It’s not safe. The water … this bus is sinking. Come on.”

“At least I won’t have the kids on my conscience,” he said.

“What was that?” Charlie said, not understanding.

The driver’s face was full of sadness. “You get going, son. It’s too dangerous. Go.”

A loud creak was followed by a gurgling sound. Charlie pulled harder. “I’ll help you. It’s not that hard.” He was exhausted, but he had to try.

The driver shook his head. “I can’t move. It’s my foot. The side of the bus got dented in and trapped it. Get out now. Don’t worry about me.”

Charlie desperately wanted to go, more than anything.

But the driver would drown! He couldn’t just leave.

He reached down and pulled on the driver’s pant leg. It wouldn’t budge. He slipped both hands under the driver’s knee and began tugging, and the bus driver reached down and pulled from his thigh.

“It’s useless,” the driver said, fighting for breath. “Please just go.” He closed his eyes.

The bus shifted again. Charlie lurched forward and almost hit his head on the windshield.

A hand pulled him back to his feet. Had the driver pulled himself free?

“Charlie. Come on,” Julia said. She pressed close. “It’s going to sink,” she whispered.

He shook his head frantically. “His foot is trapped. He can’t move.”

She put her hand to her mouth and her eyes went as big as saucers.

“Maybe the two of us can get him loose,” he said.

Charlie grabbed the steering wheel and began pushing against the side of the bus with his foot, just above where the driver’s foot was trapped. He pushed and pushed and pushed until his heart was about to burst.

“That should do it,” he said, more hoping than really believing. He reached under the driver’s leg.

Julia grabbed the driver around the waist.

“One … two … three,” Charlie counted.

They began to pull.

Charlie lost the feeling in his hands; he had long since stopped feeling his feet. The water was so cold. But he continued to pull, and so did Julia, and so did the driver.

Charlie threw his head back and felt the leg move. “A
little more,” he grunted.

The driver let go. “I think you two need to leave. I can’t bear … I can’t have you hurt. You must go. The water is getting too high. Once the bus goes down, you won’t be able to get out.”

Julia looked into Charlie’s eyes. He could see she was scared. But there was determination there, too. She wasn’t going to leave, and neither was he.

“We’re getting off this bus — together,” Charlie said, through gritted teeth. He reached for the driver’s leg again and pulled frantically. Julia and the driver began to pull as well.

It was quiet enough for Charlie to hear their breathing, the sloshing of the water, and the creaking of the bus as it tilted. Charlie braced himself and gave another mighty pull.

He and Julia went flying backwards. The frigid water took his breath away and he wiped his face with his hands so he could see.

“Are you hurt?” Julia said.

“I’m good,” Charlie said. “Is the … ?”

The driver struggled to his knees. “I’m free. Hurry up. Hurry!”

Charlie began to crawl. His head was pounding, and he stopped. His feet and hands were totally numb, and he couldn’t breathe. He had to rest.

But Julia kept pulling him and was yelling in his ear so much he gave in and followed her. She jumped out of the bus and spun around to face him. Pudge was next to her.

“Faster! Faster!” Julia screamed.

He felt himself sliding backwards. The bus was
bobbing up and down. His mind froze. The bus was completely in the lake — and he was falling towards the front. He reached out and Pudge grabbed him by his wrists. At the same time he felt a hand grab him by the belt — the driver.

“Pull! Pull!”

He felt the bus slide out from under him, and then he flopped into the water. It felt like landing in a bathtub of ice.

“No time for swimming,” Pudge gasped. Charlie heard his friend growl fiercely, and the next thing he knew he was being pulled through the mud.

“I’ve got you, Sir,” Dalton said.

Charlie saw him pull the driver from the water. Still dazed, Charlie got to his knees. The rain was still falling, but this time it felt good, almost warm.

“You almost gave me a heart attack,” Pudge said.

Charlie let his head slump to his chest.

Pudge put his arm on his back.

“You can fall asleep when you get to the tree, Major,” Pudge said.

He was too tired to answer.

With Pudge’s help, he half-walked and was half-dragged to the tree to join the others.

When he got there, Pudge hoisted him up. Julia fell in next to him. The branches poked into his back and sides, but he could not keep his eyes open. It was as if he was floating in air, and then everything went dark.

The nurse looked down at the muddy puddles that were forming at their feet. Charlie and Pudge rubbed the floor sheepishly with their shoes in a vain attempt to wipe away the mess.

“He’s in Room 218,” the nurse said tersely. “Go down that hall and it’s near the end.” She looked down at the floor again and shook her head.

Charlie said thanks and cuffed Pudge’s arm.

“I think she was quite impressed with us,” he said, as they were walking away.

“What were we doing leaving without an umbrella?” Pudge said. “Especially considering you were in the hospital for three days with hypothermia.”

“And considering it’s rained practically every day since school started I kind of wonder the same thing,” Charlie said.

They found the room and Charlie knocked on the door.

“Enter — if you have food.”

Charlie felt like he had walked into a war zone. There were casts everywhere. Scott sported one on his left arm, and Zachary, who greeted them with a wave of a crutch,
had one on his right leg. Nick lay on the hospital bed, his right leg in a cast and suspended in the air by straps. Only Matt seemed to have emerged from the accident without having broken anything, although the wide bandage on his head showed how seriously he had been hurt.

Scott sat on the end of the bed. “Just because you saved everyone’s life doesn’t mean you can show up without snacks,” he said.

“It looks like the operation went well,” Charlie said to Nick.

“The doc said it did,” he said. “They put a steel rod in my leg and had to straighten the bone and reattach it.”

The guys all groaned.

“We’re trying to eat,” Scott said. “Gross.”

“You don’t have any food,” Nick said.

“I said we were trying.”

“Did the doctor say how long until you can play again?” Charlie said.

Nick shook his head. “I asked him and he laughed. I took that to mean a long time.”

“So it’s more than two weeks,” Scott said.

Nick rolled his eyes. “What about you? How long are you going to hide behind a broken arm and a cracked collarbone?”

“For about six to eight weeks, maybe more,” Scott said, “but I’m superhuman — so I figure about six to eight weeks, maybe more.”

“How about you, Zachary?” Pudge said.

“Doctor wasn’t too sure. I have to have an MRI. Right now they think I’ll probably need surgery. Total pain.”

“Matt’s the wimp here,” Scott said. “He has a concussion and a slight skull fracture, and he won’t play. I mean really, my skull’s been fractured for years and it never slowed me down.”

“That explains a lot,” Nick whispered.

Charlie ran his hands over his head. “The co-ed team is cooked. So much for winning the money — and what are the Rebels going to do?”

“You and Pudge will have to rag the puck until we get back,” Scott said.

“At least Hilton was able to shift our next few games to later in the season,” Pudge said. “Hopefully, we’ll have some of you back by then.”

“The Rebels could use the break,” Matt said.

The Rebels fast start had faded recently, and they had lost their last three games. Charlie figured he and his friends were too preoccupied with their school problems, so maybe Matt had something there.

“I have some good news,” Charlie said. “The rink manager gave us another date for the skate-a-thon. He heard what happened and he said he won’t charge us for the time we missed.”

“I ain’t taking no bus to get there,” Scott said.

That broke everyone up.

“Don’t make me laugh,” Nick pleaded. “It hurts.”

The door opened and Julia, Alexandra and Rebecca came in. Julia waved a bouquet of flowers in the air. “The nurse said she’d bring a vase. We thought it would cheer the room up a bit.”